Back at The Swag

 Trish and I are back at The Swag, The Great Country Inn of the Smokies for another week where we are Experts in Residence two or three weeks a year.

When we were here at the end of March, there were no leaves on the trees and nothing was blooming yet. Now, here at 5,000 feet elevation, everything seems to be bursting into colorful bloom.

What we do here is that I tell stories about growing up in these mountains each afternoon at five o’clock before appetizers and dinner.  Then in the mornings Trish and I lead hikes together where we can talk about wildflowers, trees, animals, everything we see along our way.

All around the buildings here there are brilliant Catawba Rhododendrons in full bloom. They are accompanied by wonderfully fragrant lilacs.

We are right against the Great Smoky Mountains National Park here, so, when we go out walking we are partly on Swag property and partly on Park property.  There is an abundance of early wildflowers wherever we wander. 

One of the most prolific tiny flowers at this time of year are the Thyme Leafed Bluets.  Look past the blooms and notice their foliage and you will see from where their specific name comes.

And of course there are mushrooms galore!

We will be here until Sunday and be on the lookout for new discoveries each day.

Iris Time!

 Every time Trish and I get home this time of year we find new surprises!  This time it was the beginning of Iris season.  The first one we saw was already being admired by two visitors.  The little green frogs live everywhere. They sing to us at night and eat lots of mosquitos. We love them and are happy to share flowers with them.  The bumblebee is one of our appreciated pollinators. We welcome them anytime!

Other colors are right behind.  Many of these bearded ones are reblooming and will come out again in the fall.

Over in the next bed the Siberian Irises are just beginning.  They offer a different take on the Iris family.

A big surprise was just a round the corner from the bearded Irises.  It was our first Oriental Poppy!  Before the week was over there were really beginning to pop.  It is their first year and we didn’t know what we might get. What a lovely surprise!

 

Finishing Our Disney Visit

 When Trish and I come to Walt Disney World, this is how we plan our days:  this is an eight day visit, so, we give three days to Epcot, three days to the Magic Kingdom, one day to Animal Kingdom, and one day split between Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs.  This is totally subjective based on the things we like to do and the places we like to eat.

The best thing about the Magic Kingdom is getting to ride all the rides without kids in tow!  We do get the Lightening Lane passes and with them, plus experience, we can get in 13 to 15 rides an about ten hours.

At Animal Kingdom it is pretty easy to cover everything we like in a half-day and get back to things like the Safari ride for a second turn.  The animals are so healthy and wonderful to see!  This year the day was cool and they were all out for us to enjoy.

Hollywood Studios is not a favorite of ours since we don’t go for the virtual reality rides…be both get car sick…but we go there to see the Muppets!  

Back at Epcot, the Flower Festival was the outstanding thing of this entire trip.  They were endless, colorful, creative, and just beautiful!  What good ideas I got from being here!

And, oh yes, there were fireworks!

Art of Animation

 Each year when we come to Disney World we stay in a different place.  This makes the entire trip a unique adventure as the resorts themselves have such distinct locations, features, and identities.

The Art of Animation Resort features buildings and spaces designed around animated films from Cars to The Lion King.  Each space is populated with more than life size figures from these well remembered movies.  

Our particular building complex is The Little Mermaid.  We are all finished in shades of blue and characters from the movie surround us everywhere.

One of the best things about staying here is that you travel by the Skyliner from here to either Epcot or Hollywood Studios.  The Skyliner itself is one of the best rides here! We love this as our primary transportation.  After the Skyliner you can go on by Monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  It is great when even the transportation is an entertainment!

Epcot Flower Festival

 Trish and I cannot fully have springtime without a visit to Disney World.  We came down for nine days and are here in the middle of the Epcot Flower Festival.

Everything is in bloom and there are living topiary structures everywhere.  All of our favorite characters are living and in bloom.

The mixture of perennials and annuals gives me so many ideas about what we might try on our own micro version back at home. While we are here we trust that our beds on the island are growing into bloom.

There is a new water trail here built around the Moana character.  You can stay dry or get wet…a good choice on a hot day.  We will go there again today!

It’s Coming!

 Spring is now really on its way!

We just ate our first lettuce from our little salad garden.  Trish also had an early radish!  The lettuces and radishes are thriving as are the carrots, beets, and Swiss chard.  We love this time of year!

Most of all, we are happy to see the first flowers coming into bloom.

Just as all the bulb blooms are finishing, the early annuals and perennials are taking their places.  The marigolds I started inside in December are adding their yellows, golds, and reds to the back yard.  The perennials are getting their buds and some are showing color.

We have two new perennial shade beds this year.  These are new and very promising.  There is a Columbine blooming and you can see growth daily.

One of the best things about being at home is that our home is as much outdoors as inside!

Snow!

 We have been at The Swag for ten days now and the weather has ranged from 70 degrees to snow!  The temperature dropped and the snow came in from over the mountains to the west.

By morning we awakened to a world that was just white enough to be beautiful but not cause us any trouble.

Trish and I are both glad that we are not leading hikes this week.  This is not because of the snow but because the wind across Cataloochee Divide is quite bitter.  It is hard to remember that we had the picnic here outdoors on Wednesday!

Just another reminder of the roller coaster of springtime and the wonder of the creation in which we love.